Discuss the Composition, Powers, and Functions of the House of Commons.

There is a parliamentary government in Britain, so the parliament has a special place in the governance of the country. The British Parliament is the 'mother' of MPs. Here also a bicameral parliament has been formed. Therefore, it has two houses - the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Commons House is the first and most popular house.

The membership of the House of Commons has been changing regularly. At present its membership is 651. Its members are directly elected by the people. Every adult i.e. men and women of 18 years of age has the right to vote, a person has the right to vote only once. For elections, the entire country is divided into 651 constituencies. One member gets elected from each constituency.

Qualification of the members-

1. It is necessary to have a name in the list of voters of any constituency in Britain.
2. Willingness to take the oath of allegiance to the nation and the country.
3. Minors, members of the House of Lords, foreigners, lunatics, insolvents, those convicted of serious crimes, and persons working in government offices of profit cannot be its members. 

Tenure - 

The election of the House of Commons is for 5 years. But if necessary, it can be dissolved earlier and its term can also be extended in times of crisis. There is a convention in Britain that if the Prime Minister requests the Queen to dissolve the House of Commons before a fixed term, then the Queen must accept this request.

Powers - 

There is a Speaker of the House of Commons. He presides over the house and maintains discipline in it. It is said that the rattling of the Speaker's robe can put an end to all unrest in the House. He has a very important place in the House. The House of Commons has been made extremely powerful in the British constitution. It is also said that the Parliament of Britain can do everything except make a man a woman and a woman a man. 

Its rights can be briefly described as follows-

1. Legislation- 

The most important function of the House of Commons in today's era is to make laws, but when the House of Commons was being organized, its main function was not to make laws, but to give expensive money to the king, and then to remove his grievances. To say that in the course of time, making laws to remove grievances became its main task. In this area, its involvement was with the House of Lords, but as the people's representatives started reaching the House of Commons, the House of Commons started competing with the House of Lords and as a result, in 1911, the power of the House of Lords was reduced, according to which now the House of Lords is present only for a year. may delay. Although the cabinet has a lot of hand in law-making, it is an undisputed fact that the cabinet makes laws from the property of the House of Commons.

2. Financial authority- 

As has been said the first function of the Parliament was financial management. In fact, the ladder of power and rights that the Commons Assembly has been able to climb to date is only because of being the manager and controller of the purse. This infallible weapon has won the House of Commons against the King and then against the House of Lords. Even today, it is the Commons Assembly that passes the financial management or budget, which is prepared by the cabinet. The members of the House of Commons have the right to increase or decrease the number of these items. A new tax cannot be levied without the approval of the Parliament. Even after passing the budget, the Parliament monitors it.

• The departments of the executive shall spend money on those prescribed items in the same manner as the Parliament commanded them. 
• Money Bills are examined by the Committee of the Full House and then passed by the Parliament. No amount can be spent from the Consolidated Fund without the permission of the Comptroller General, who is an officer appointed by the Parliament. After the expenditure is done, it is scrutinized by the Auditor General whether these expenses have been incurred as per the orders of the Parliament or not, and he presents a complete report to the House.

Like other areas, if we say that here the cabinet has dominance, then it will not be unfair because the finance bill is put before the members of the committee of the entire house by them only. Where it is natural for the cabinet to dominate due to not having a full view of them. 

3. Control over the executive- 

The executive and the legislature have a close relationship with the parliamentary system of England and thus the executive is responsible for its every work towards the Commons House. 

In carrying out this responsibility, the Council of Ministers Members' questions have to be answered. A reply has to be given when there is a debate on motions of censure or no-confidence, and the majority has to be kept in its favor, otherwise passing of these motions means removal of the cabinet.

4. Redressal of Public Grievances- 

The Commons House is not a council made only for the deliberations of the cabinet or councilors, but public complaints can also be delivered there directly. Ministers have to answer the questions of the public's grievances during Question Hour, but the statement that the Commons House represents the will of the public raises doubts. After the election, public opinion appears in the form of the position of the parties, but to what extent that position becomes favorable to the voters, is a disputed matter. In the words of Lawsky, "The House of Commons is a true mirror of the opinions and interests of the nation." Overall, in the words of Churchill, it can be said that "the House of Commons is the bastion of liberty.